Red Simpson

I was perusing the New York Times website the other day (yes, it's true!) and in the obituaries I saw the name Red Simpson. I thought, well, that's familiar. I vaguely remember seeing that name on lots of yellow and orange Capitol Records 45's back when I was young, stupid, and flush with life.

I didn't exactly know Red Simpson as an artist, but on those records, his name was etched in parentheses right underneath the song titles.

He was a writer. Nevermind the trucking songs, the CB radio tunes, which are a quaint snapshot of a decade most of us would rather forget.

Red Simpson wrote this song, and damn.

You know how much I love Dwight, but here is how I remember this song:

Red also co-wrote this next song with Buck Owens. I'm not going to diss on Buck, but he was known for pilfering tunes, so I'm guessing Red truly wrote this song. I used to hate it -- truly I did -- when Buck and his Buckaroos would show up on my TV screen, and Buck would do his shoulder-shrug. I thought, wow, what a half-assed song! But that might have been my love/hate relationship with Buck Owens. It wasn't exactly Red's fault.



Red was entwined with the Bakersfield Sound. Yes, that was actually a (C) capitalized thing -- Buck, and Merle Haggard (especially).

I figured he at least warranted a tiny bit of recognition -- for all the 45's I spun -- with his name on them.

20 Best Country Songs Of All Time - Continued

This is, I think, number four in a continuing series of (in my opinion) the twenty best country songs of all time.

This song was (allegedly) written by Buck Owens, and was recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos on Capitol Records in 1964. This song was actually the "B" side of "My Heart Skips A Beat". "Together Again" went to number one on June 6, 1964. The song has been recorded approximately 2,532,159 times (okay, I don't know how many times, but it's a lot).

I like this video, because it shows the Buckaroos, who were an integral part of Buck's popularity. Don Rich (naturally), Tom Brumley, Doyle Holly.





This seems like the appropriate time to note the passing of Ken Nelson, Capitol Records producer, who launched the career of Buck Owens, and who also discovered Merle Haggard.

Ken also produced "The Wild Side Of Life" for Hank Thompson in 1952. He recorded hits for Wynn Stewart, Ferlin Husky, Jean Shepard, among many others.

I remember the album, "Live At Carnegie Hall" by Buck & The Buckaroos (you should buy this one; trust me). Buck gives a shout out to Ken Nelson on the recording.

Ken Nelson was 96 years old, so he lived a long and, thankfully for country fans, a very productive life.

Here is the link to the LA Times article about Ken Nelson:

Ken Nelson